1. Field
The disclosure relates to a cathode including a sintered polycrystalline material in which a crystal direction is set to facilitate movement of electrons, a secondary battery including the cathode, and a method of manufacturing the cathode.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the electronics technologies have developed, the markets for various mobile electronic devices such as mobile phones, game devices, smartphones, smart pads, electronic-book terminals, tablet computers, or mobile medical devices worn on the human body have grown considerably. Accordingly, with the increase in the mobile electronic devices related market, a demand for batteries appropriate for driving mobile electronic devices has increased.
Unlike primary batteries, secondary batteries are rechargeable. In recent, demand for lithium batteries has increased because lithium batteries have a higher voltage and higher energy density per unit weight than nickel-cadmium batteries or nickel-hydrogen batteries. Lithium batteries are typically classified into liquid electrolyte batteries and solid polymer electrolyte batteries according to the type of the electrolyte used. A battery using a liquid electrolyte is referred to as a lithium ion battery and a battery using a solid polymer electrolyte is referred to as a lithium polymer battery. In lithium batteries, a lithium based oxide is mainly used as a cathode active material and a carbon material is mainly used as an anode active material. In general, a mixture of an active material particle, a conductive material, and a binder is mainly used as the cathode active material.